Boy? Makani thought with an amused look at Kiri, both eyebrows raised. That was a word he hadn't been called in a good decade or so, but it was kind of endearing coming from the older woman.

And they were worried about scaring him off! Adorable. Kiri was more of a flight risk than he was, he thought as Akila mentioned a "third influence" and Kiri stared at the ceiling as though begging for divine intervention. Oh no, he was in his element here! The chaos was interesting, the air abuzz with a frenetic but warm energy.

And suddenly he realized with an unexpected pang that he had missed this. People. Family. Crazy, loud get-togethers, drama and all.

He shook the thought away. "The more the merrier, I say!" Makani said. "I think the biggest challenge would be finding someone willing to put up with us. Kiri's quite the handful and I can't say I'm much better. It must be why we work so well together, right Kiri?"

He playfully swatted Kiri with the tip of a wing, winking at her. None of what he'd said was a lie, this was a partnership of a sort and they were working together. But he knew damned well how her mother would interpret that.

Fletch began to laugh harder. "Theo...no. That's...that's not what's — " He lost himself in the absurdity of the thought for a minute, chuckling and beaming at this sweet, ridiculous soul before him. "Love, I...haven't been to the Siren since the night of the ball. It's er...it's...been a while. And I've been wanting you bad. You've no idea how bad. It's been eating me up inside. And you clearly aren't in a place where this can go anywhere tonight, and...you're pushing my buttons. That's all it is. Just..."

He paused for breath and realized suddenly now tense he was from keeping it all together. Or was it that he hadn't had a drink in hours? Either way, he'd been holding back from touching Theo. From holding him like he'd asked to be held. "You need me to be good. So help me be good," he finished. "I'm trying, Theo, I really am."

"Hmm?" He hummed softly as Fletcher explained and then dragged the man closer, his hands cupping his cheeks so he could lean up and kiss along the scar from the bottom and then up at his brow with the tenderest of touches. He then slid his hands down to his shoulders and gave them a comforting squeeze. 

"If I'm being too much, too fast for you, please just say. I don't want to hurt you or spook you. I know I've wanted this for so long but it's all so sudden and fast for you right now and I understand that. I'm not looking to break you."

They tumbled to the bed. Fletch took great care not to fall on the man. Not to block him in. To let him have the upperhand, and give him a clear path to escape. It was all out of habit, and he only half knew he was even doing it, and even that half evaporated the second Theo's lips grazed his jaw. "Fuck," he breathed. "I'm a gentleman. I'm a gentleman. I'm a fucking gentleman." He leaned away so Theo could read him and spoke with the sort of breathless laughter of a man hanging onto one last tenuous thread of self control for dear life. "No, it's...it's not. Was lucky the big guy didn't fuck up a nerve when he got me. Just don't shove a finger in and you're fine. Same goes for the other ones. Just...mind my sanity. I'm already losing it."

He blushed and squawked and blushed some more but moved back into Fletcher's bed easily. Theo latched onto the other man's shirt and pulled him in close after. "For now, yes," he replied softly.

"I have spent far too many days and nights dreaming and longing of being entangled like this with you to not seize it at the first available opportunity."

Theo leaned in and stole another kiss from Fletcher, this one more confident and warm with traces of passion and hunger while still maintaining the gentle, softness that spelled everything Theodore. His lips slid away from his lover's then as he trailed kisses along his jaw. "Is it sensitive? Your scar?" He gently touched Fletcher's cheek beside it before sliding his hand to the back of his neck and giving a small squeeze.

"For now?" Fletch repeated coyly. He had the distinct impression that he was being strung along. That Theo was one of those people who had little actual interest, and was content to blush and titter his way through every encounter and go no further. He thought he might go mad from it if that was the case. But he still wouldn't push it. It wasn't his call to make, no matter what he wanted or how badly. "Alright," he breathed. "Whatever you want, Pretty Boy." His grin cracked a little wider at everything that Theo had called him. "No arguments, there," he snorted softly before adopting a look of mock concern. "Guess I'll return what I got you for Yule, though, if you're really not into pirates. 'S too bad. I found some good ones."

Before Theo could protest what he'd said, he slipped a hand between them and moved forward, pushing the man slowly and gently towards the bed, step by step. Not once did he take his eye off him. "Now...we going to just stand here talking forever? Or are we doing this?"

Theo grimaced slightly at the teasing but was quick to follow on Fletcher's heels. His gaze was in tension as he watched the other man and his shaking hands prepare for bed. It would have almost been flattering if not for the fact her Theo knew about the excessive alcohol even if he didn't yet realize just how excessive it all was. 

He surged forward though the moment Fletcher faced him again, wrapping his arms around him loosely and smiling down at him. "For now," he spoke shyly, his blush returning. "With some you holding me and lots of kisses sprinkled in there too maybe?"

Theo reached up and cupped his cheek, his thumb hovering over the bottom of Fletcher's scar. "And I do not have a pirate fetish. I just think you're handsome and funny and an asshole," he giggled at the last. "And being near you makes me happy because it's you."

"Mm. Mine's probably safer," Fletch agreed. Admittedly, in what few forbidden thoughts he'd allowed himself, he'd fixated on everything he wanted to do to the man. He hadn't considered the specifics. He wasn't sure if Theo would be particularly comfortable in a small bed in a small room. Fletch smirked, though, at what he said next. "Trusting a pirate to be a gentleman in his own bunk. That wise?" he teased. Nevertheless, he reluctantly parted from the object of his desire and motioned towards the nanny door with his head. "Come on, then," he murmured, and slipped through it into his own room.

It was clean enough. He'd straightened things out of habit and made the bed. And Theo had been here before, obviously, but still, it felt...plain. And it was a strange feeling, bringing a noble from opulence back home to plain. Fletch sat down on the foot of the bed and got to work unlacing his boots with still-shaking hands. He frowned in annoyance at the knowledge that he might need a drink soon, if only to keep it from getting worse and concerning Theo. And he couldn't sneak it anymore, either. The man knew. He had to do the shameful thing in front of him.

But that was a problem for later, and he desperately wanted to stay in the now. Boots off, he stood again and shook his jacket over his shoulders, hanging it over a small chair in the corner as he always did. He pulled the eyepatch off, too, and rubbed the spot where it had pushed up against his cheek all day. Finally, he turned back to Theo, hesitant and uncertain behind his usual cocky grin. "Just...holding me?" he asked.

It had been sometime since he'd seen or paid much attention to this southern monarch. But Qiani was, surprisingly, as he had remembered.  A youthful beauty, no doubt curbing her age and looks with magic. Where as he... 

He had aged. The softer features he may have had in his youth now looked hardened, perhaps even weathered. The war had not been kind, his eyes like stone, and his face... well, the ugly scars he had suffered would remain with him until the day he died. Yet despite the marring looks of a man hardened by years of war, he still kept his grace, his posture perfected and even the air around him seemed commanded. 

There was no mistaking that this man ruled a nation of war.

Although, at her comment, something subtle seemed to change- and he bowed his head in reply. 

"They say the first steps are the most painful," he replied, voice softer than one might have expected from such a man. 

He allowed a long pause of silence to linger befire he spoke again. 

"This is not an easy subject for me or my people. And with houses divided, I could only think of one solution that would allow for a fair resolve with peace talks against.. this... the Duke of Turgall. He.. it would seem.. has found ways to make unifications and peace of his own... and I could only counter in kind."

He went quiet again, studying the vision of the Queen in the mirror. 

"It is why I must request we both hold our audience in your lands, so as to offer a location that is not politically backing one man; or the other. Despite our differences, we have held a peaceful border for many generations and we do hold you and yours with the utmost respect.  But, as my letter stated.." he went on, posture still crisp. "This is a discussion of grave importance to all of Connlaoth. And a request via letter does not hold the weight and truth of the spoken word. "

The woman was all business with Adri, and was finished in half the time with her as she was with Idris. In fact, her fingers hadn't even touched Adri's wrist where they had almost lingered over Idris's skin. Which, of course, he hadn't noticed.

Honestly, he hardly noticed anything besides the stones that sat in front of them and his fingers itched with anticipation. He wouldn't know if it was the right one until he was able to actually hold them and feel them. 

"If you try and take anything from the store, this will tighten without stopping." The shopkeep told Adri specifically, "Even just putting a stone in a pocket will trigger it. You've been warned. We had some urchin lose a hand a few weeks back."

Then her attention was back on Idris and she began arranging the stones in order of clarity and size - so basically by price which wasn't lost on him. Naturally she spent most of her time talking up the stones that cost the most and was giggling and sighing an awful lot when his attention was on those specifically.

She felt disingenuous so Idris blocked out her voice and carefully picked up one of the medium sized sapphires cut into a square with facets that were more geometric and square than the rest. It felt...not right. Then he picked up another and, once again, just wasn't it.

He was probably standing there, picking up stones and putting them down with a frown, for a good ten minutes, possibly more.

"—came from the eastern coast of Ler'aana where the earth creates a very unique color for these stones. But their characteristics are still sapphires so we keep them together."

Idris lifted it, still frowning slightly, and turned towards Adri - only just speaking for the first time.

"Doesn't our usual merchant had stones like this? She never charged us more because the color was a bit off, does she?" It was a pointed question, and one that caused the shopkeeper to pale, but Idris had been watching Adri these past months and he had been learning, even if he didn't realize it much himself.